apparently tuesdays are busy

another busy day for madelyn and i. since i have tuesday mornings off i feel the need to spend every second possible away from the house. today we went grocery shopping, attended music class, went to my 34 week check-up, and had lunch with daddy before getting madelyn down for her nap. i was a slow draw will the camera today so the videos are the worst sample of what she was actually doing, but i think that the visuals will help make sense of my explanations.

madelyn likes to close doors behind her so hearing a door open and close is not that concerning - until today. i was getting ready for the morning and i heard a door open and then close. i had a moment of "gee, that really sounded like an exterior door" but i wrote it off because we have baby proof covers on the doorknobs. well, i heard a door open and close again before there was some crying. she had pinched her fingers when closing the door again. and, yes, it was the front door! she had gone out and come back in again. so we will be installing a chain catch at the top of the door this weekend as backup.

madelyn has never really paid much attention to the candle arrangement in the fireplace which is odd because she always notices candles other places (she loves to smell them) and spends a lot of time playing next to the fireplace. anyway, today she noticed them and exclaimed, "candles!", and then clasped her hands together, looked at me, and with a huge smile said, "i love it/them!" (i can't remember whether she said "it" or "them".) she did it more than once so i thought i would be able to catch it with the camera, but by the time i got back she was trying to get the candles out and was wining about it. here is what i got:

later we were getting ready to get in the car and she insisted on getting her "case" (a CD case she found somewhere this morning) to take with her. she had to bring her "case" because daddy brings a "case" to work with him (madelyn used to call it his purse, but we convinced her that it was a briefcase not a purse). as we were stepping down into the garage she told me that she was taking her case to work. and then that she was going to work with daddy. i didn't really get her to say it again, but you can see her case and hear her say "work".

i was changing madelyn's diaper before her nap and she was singing to herself. it took me a minute to realize that she was singing one of our music class songs. here are the actual lyrics:

i'm a piece of popcorn, rolling in the pan
shake me, shake me
as fast as you can.
ready, set, go!
pop, pop, pop, pop
popcorn!

she sang it trough correctly a few times for daddy before i got the camera and again it wasn't her best rendition.

and here are a few more notes that i wanted to include:

- somewhere (we think church) madelyn learned the term "jumping bean" and she asks for it often. matt snacks on trail mix most days when he first gets home from work. madelyn can hear him open that bag from anywhere in the house and comes running asking for a "jumping bean, please, daddy." matt has taken it to mean an m&m and madelyn could not be happier about the interpretation. as of last night though she asks for an "m&m".

- anytime i get my computer going upstairs madelyn asks to "skype" with her grandparents. she asks for them in pairs and then sometimes one at a time. it is just funny to me that she uses "skype" as a verb.

- madelyn can now walk up a flight of stairs without using a handrail. she can even have her arms full of toys and just walks right up the middle of the stairs without any support and will have no loss of balance.

she is so expressive and it is disappointing that i can't capture it on camera to share. basically, take what you see and amplify it by 2 or 3. love.